Container use in Residential areas again on the mind of City Council

The increased use of shipping containers for storage
in Residential areas was a topic of note from Monday's 
Prince Rupert City Council Session

The approval Monday night for a temporary use permit for a storage container in a city residential area, has once again brought the topic of how to manage the growing use of the shipping containers in the city, a situation which has increased in frequency in recent years.

Monday night Council approved a Temporary Use Permit for a period of one year, that related to a homeowner who is renovating a residence and wanted to use the container to be placed in the Cotton Street area to store belongings during the work required.

Council approved a Temporary Use Permit for a storage
container on a property on Cotton Street on Monday evening

The application for the Permit was requested in April, with the applicant going through all the proper procedures with the City, including public notification, which received no comment from the public and the posting a $5,000 cash bond with the City as part of those regulations.

The Report to Council at the time related to the request can be reviewed below:

And while Council was quick to approve the final stage of approval in this instance, the growing number of containers appearing around the city that haven't gone through the city's process did capture the attention of Councillor Barry Cunningham.

It's a topic he and Councillor Wade Niesh have raised before, though since that December 2020 discussion it doesn't appear that much progress has been made in bringing the unwanted incursions of containers to an end.

Monday, Mr. Cunningham noted of a few instances he has observed in his travels and called on the city's Bylaw department to enforce the existing bylaws related to such activity.  You can

"Containers on the street, I think are starting to become bit of a problem. And not everyone has a temporary use permit for them. 

I was up on Eagle Subdivision, on Parker there is one sitting taking up half a lane and if somebody parks on the other side I don't even know if a fire truck could get through there, it's a tight squeeze.

And the more and more you drive around town their sort of  ... off of people's property onto the street, and I think bylaw should look into, because if they have to have a Temporary use permit to put it someplace, then it's something we should be enforcing." -- Councillor Barry Cunningham on container use in the city

You can review the short discussion from the City's Video Archive starting at the 37 minute mark.

More notes on Monday's Council Session can be reviewed through our Council Timeline Feature.

A wider overview of past Council Discussion themes can be explored here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.